The present invention relates to article storage facility and an operating method thereof.
Article storage facility is, for example, applied in automatic warehouses and the like. The article is loaded into the storage section of the article storage shelf or the article is unloaded from the storage section of the article storage shelf by moving a transfer means of article transportation equipment horizontally and vertically in a traveling space so as to be positioned at a target stop position of a storage section, and by performing loading or unloading of an article at that target stop position using the transfer means.
The target stop position is a position suitable for performing loading and unloading of the article, and target stop positions are determined for each of the plurality of storage sections. The target stop positions are determined from target horizontal distance information from a standard horizontal position in a horizontal travel direction of the transfer means and from target vertical distance information from a standard vertical position in a vertical travel direction of the transfer means.
However, it is difficult to assembly an article storage shelf such that each storage section is positioned without error in a pre-defined design position. Accordingly, target horizontal distance information and the target vertical distance information related to a target stop position at each of the plurality of storage sections is determined by moving the transfer means in actuality with the article storage shelf in an assembled condition.
A conventional article storage facility comprises a plurality of learning markers provided with the installation position thereof in the horizontal travel direction and the vertical travel direction of the transfer means being set in order to determine the target horizontal distance information and the target vertical distance information with respect to each of the plurality of storage sections and a learning marker detection means moving as one with the transfer means and detecting a learning marker. A control means is configured to learn, with regard to each of the plurality of leaning markers, learning horizontal distance information from a standard horizontal position in the horizontal travel direction of the transfer means and learning vertical distance information from a standard vertical position in the vertical travel direction of the transfer means based on detection information of a horizontal travel distance detection means and detection information of a vertical travel distance detection means upon detection of the learning marker by the learning marker detection means and to determine the target horizontal distance information and the target vertical distance information based on that learned learning horizontal distance information and learning vertical distance information and information related to an installation setting condition (see, JP H08-244914, for example).
In this conventional article storage facility, the learning marker is formed having a rectangular shape when viewed from above and is configured such that the learning horizontal distance information can be learned based on detection information of a horizontal travel distance detection means upon detection by the learning marker detection means of each of both end sections thereof in the horizontal travel direction of the transfer means, and also, the learning vertical distance information can be learned based on detection information of a vertical travel distance detection means upon detection by the learning marker detection means of each of both end sections thereof in the vertical travel direction of the transfer means.
In this conventional article storage facility, learning horizontal distance information is learned by moving the transfer means horizontally so as to detect each of both end sections of the learning marker in the horizontal travel direction of the transfer means using the learning marker detection means, and also, learning vertical distance information is learned by moving the transfer means vertically so as to detect each of both end sections of the learning marker in the vertical travel direction of the transfer means using the learning marker detection means. Accordingly, in order to learn learning horizontal distance information and learning vertical distance information for each of the plurality of learning markers, the transfer means must be moved horizontally so as to detect each of both end sections of the learning marker in the horizontal travel direction of the transfer means using the learning marker detection means, and the transfer means must be moved vertically so as to detect each of both end sections of the learning marker in the vertical travel direction of the transfer means using the learning marker detection means.
To explain further, in order to learn learning horizontal distance information and learning vertical distance information for each of the plurality of learning markers, for example, first of all, the transfer means is moved so as to perform sequential detection regarding all of the plurality of learning markers using the learning marker detection means in a configuration whereby the transfer means is moved horizontally so as to sequentially detect the plurality of learning markers lined up in the horizontal travel direction of the transfer means using the learning marker detection means, and when the transfer means has been moved to an end section of the article storage shelf in the horizontal travel direction of the transfer means, the transfer means is turned back at that end section of the article storage shelf, and at a position adjacent in the vertical travel direction of the transfer means, the plurality of learning markers lined up in the horizontal travel direction of the transfer means is sequentially detected using the learning marker detection means. The transfer means must be moved so as to perform sequential detection regarding all of the plurality of learning markers using the learning marker detection means in a configuration whereby the transfer means is moved vertically so as to sequentially detect the plurality of learning markers lined up in the vertical travel direction of the transfer means using the learning marker detection means, and when the transfer means has been moved to an end section of the article storage shelf in the vertical travel direction of the transfer means, the transfer means is turned back at that end section of the article storage shelf, and at a position adjacent in the horizontal travel direction of the transfer means, the plurality of learning markers lined up in the vertical travel direction of the transfer means is sequentially detected using the learning marker detection means.
In this way, in order that the learning horizontal distance information and learning vertical distance information may be learned, the distance of motion of the transfer means becomes long, the learning operation for learning of learning horizontal distance information and learning vertical distance information is complicated, and there is a danger of the time required for that learning operation increasing.